Process and apparatus for vaporizing heavy hydrocarbons



" May -4 192.6.

. A. l. KOUSNETZOFF PRocEss AND APPARATUS FoR vAPonIzInq HEAVY aynnocmons lFiled May '19, 1924 4 sheets-sheet@ Wwf/4 E Kaas/verzon Mul-4,1926. 1,583,692

A. l. KOUSNETZOFF A PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR VAPORIZING HEAVY HYDROCARBOHS med uay 19. 1924 4 sneetssheet 2 May 4 1926,

A. l. KOUSNETZQFF PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR VAPORIZIRG HBAVY HYDROCARBONS rma nay 19. 1924 4 sheets-sheet :s

A, i'. KousNETzoFF PROCESS AND QPPARATS POR VAPORIZING HEAVY HYDROCARBOHS Filed uayls. 1924 4 sheath-'sheet Patented lMay 4, `1926.

ALEXANDER IV'ANOV-ITCH KO'USNETZOFF, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PROCESSAND APPARATUS FOR VAPORIZING HEAVY-HYDROCARBONS.

Application led May 19, 1924. Serial No. 714,517.-

To aZ-Z -w-h-om it may concern.'

' Be it known that I, ALEXANDER IVANO- vlToH KoUsNn'rZoFF, a citizen of the Russian State, residing at 51 Marlborough Crescent, Bedford Park, London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to a Process and Apparatus for Va. orizing Heavy Hydrocarbons, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known that in order to effect rapid and complete combustion of a liquid fuel it is absolutely necessary to supply this fuel in a state of gas or saturated vapor while the vapors do not contain any drops of hydrocarbon in suspension.

It is also necessary for the vapors to be intimately mixed with the quantity of air hydrocarbons,

necessary for combustion.

The solution of this problem does not present any great diicultles in the case of light such as 'petrol or benzene, which are characterizedA by a high vapor tension even at low temperatures.

In the case of heavy hydrocarbons, such as petroleum, solar oil, gas oil, alcohol, and so forth the problem becomes very complex andits solution diiiicult.

Various processes h ave already been suggested for atomizing lsuch fuels, some of the processes being based on`the pulverization of the fuel and others on the intense heating of the hydrocarbon.'

Experience, however, neither of theseprocesse's separately are eficient as they do not enable the central por- 'tion of the fluid jet, which it is desired to introduce int-o the grate of a generator or into -an engine cylinder, being brought into a state of saturated vapor.

By means of the known pulverizing processes a finely divided'liquid is obtained, but

it is always in the form of drops, whilst whenheating intensely or even superheatheated surface, these always contain in suspension a number of drops which have not een vaporized.

In order to overcome these disadvantages,- the process according to the present 1nven tion consists in combining together the effects of pulverization and heatlng jwhile has shown that ing the desired effect is only obtainedl in the using at the same time the effects due to the dierence in densities of the various layers of the liquid jet, the kinetic energy of the drops and also their weight.' According to the present process the hydrocarbon jet or the primary mixture (air-fuel or vaporfuel) is directed against a heating body which penetrates into the central portion of f the stream of liquid' and divides the latter into a large number of thin sprays which pass in a zig-zag manner through a. number of-passages so as to finally pass out with a .gyratory or whirling movement in 'order to obtain a .completely atomized and homoge-v neous mixture.

The inventlon also relates to an apparatus for carrying into effect the process above described.

This 'apparatus may be applied to I or l formed integrally with an injector for liquid -fuels as used for the heating of boilers and metallurgical furnaces, for internal combustion engines and various other uses and which consists in the combination of a Venturi diffuser with a hollow body of suitable fornr heated internally and acting as a generator for the fuel which nis injected.

In the accompanying drawings there are illustrated, by way of example and in la diagrammatic manner, three forms of construction according to the invention.

In these drawings Figure 1 is a vertical section of the ap` paratus;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 6, of a modification, and Figure 3 form of construction, the upper the apparatus being omitted.

Fig. et is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig 5 is a section online 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig". 8. As will be seen from the drawings, the apparatus consists of three movable arts, 1, 2, 3 which can be removed easily an of which the rst part l is adapted'for the supplyof the mixture andthe third 3 is secured by anges 4 tothe grate or the engine to be supplied. 'In the interior of the apparatus is disposed portion of a hollow body 5 of truncated conical shape which is heated internally in any suitable manner and which is extended downwardly byfa defiector 6. Between the outer walls of the hollonT body 5 and the inner walls of the is a vertical section of a thirdvsame cross section throughout.

middle portion 2 there are provided vstraight v passages 7 or zig-zag passages 7 7 of any suitable form as shown in Figures 2 and 3 through which pass the streams of mixture for supply to the combustion apparatus.

In the example illustrated in the drawings the passages in the hollow body have the In some cases however it may be desirable to increase the cross section in the direction of movement of the fluid.

`Near the -upper end of the hollow body 5 the passages 7 communicate with bell shaped ports 8 of a spiral design for example which are adapted to impart a whirling movement to the mixture.

Above the hollow body 5 is disposed a secondary mixing chamber 9 which is formed by the inner walls 10 of the upper part 3 of the apparatus, thus forming' a kind of diii'user in the form of a Venturi tube to which the air for combustion is `supplied by means of one or more pipes 11, 11. The walls 10 of the chamber 9 may be smooth or luted as may be desired.

The apparatus is also provided with a number of pipes 12, 12', 13, 13', 14, 14', by means of which a temperature regulating substance is supplied to the hollow walls of the apparatus for the purpose of maintain-l ing its walls at the desired temperature. The 'operation of the apparatus is as follows.

When pulverized hydrocarbon is supplied to the first part of the apparatus in the form of a spray, this Huid jet strikes by means of its central portion, containing the largest portion of drops theconical lower end 6. This conical end .acts as a deflector and divides the jet into anumber of streams which are conducted into the passages formed between tle outer walls of the hollow body and the inner walls of the centra-lv portion of the apparatus. As these thin streams of fuel4 are as much as possible in contact with the walls and by means of the particular shape of the passages, all the elements forming the liuid streamswill be atomized, being thus freed from' drops by the combined eilect of gravity and kinetic energy, drops being deposited on the inner walls of the passages Where they evaporate and finally escape in the form of' satur-ated vapor.

When the fuel rea-ches .the ports 8 at the end of the`passages 7 a whirling movement will be imparted thereto by reason of the particular shape of the ports 8 and it then enters thesecondary mixing chamber 9 where it is intimately mixed with air supplied by the pipe 11, 11 from which it is conducted in the form of a completely atomized and homogenous mixture to the grate of the furnace or to the engine cylinder which is to be supplied therewith. The advantages of the apparatus above described are as follows.

By means of this apparatus a high degree Y of atomization of the liquid fuel is obtained and also its intimate and the homogenous mixing of the air for combustion which leads to the complete combustion of the mixture in the grate to be heated or in the engine cylinde The invention is not limited to the forms of construction illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that the walls of the apparatus may be formed of one or more elements and that the hollow body may be of any suitable shape such as cylindrical, prismatic or the like.

In some cases it may be advisable to provide the walls ot the hollow body with a number of orifices of anyi suitable shape in order to place the inner chamber of this hollow body in communication with the remainder of the apparatus. In such cases compressed air or steam circulated in the hollow body will mix /with the hydrocarbons whilst these are being atoniized.

Moreover the passages for the streams of fluid may be of any suitable shape. They may be rect-angular, circular, straight, arranged in the form of spirals and so forth. The passages may also be independent or be formed integrally with the hollow body or with thecentral portion of the apparatus or may even be provided in both of these without departing from the scope of the invention.

Moreover the cross sections of the various passages disposed around the hollow body may vary from one passage to the next for the purpose of increasing the mixing.

It will be seen that the various modifications of the passages which have been described produce considerable advantages in three respects, viz, manufacture, inspection and cleaning.

The apparatus forming the subject of the present invention may not only be used for supplying the grates for furnaces or inter- .nal combustion engines but it is also applibody which is heated externally.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A process for atomizing heavy hydrocarbons, comprising, heating the central portion of a stream of carbureted fuel, then dividing the stream up into a plurality of smaller, diverging streams, and heating 'each of the diverging smaller streams, then wall of the spreader and means for heating the inner wall of the chamber and the outer wall of the spreader, partitions dividing the annular space into a plurality of separate divergent channels, and means at the exit ends ot' the channel to impart a whirling motion to thev material Howing through the channels.

3. A. vaporizer comprising, a hollow walled' chamber, gas inlet and outlet ports in the chamber, a hollow conical spreader `within the chamber with its apex directed toward, and concentric with, `the inlet, the chamber being formed to leave an annular space between its inner wall and the outer wall of the spreader and means, for heating the inner wall of the chamber and the outer wall of the spreader, a mixing space in the chamber beyond the spreader, an auxiliary air inlet in the mixing space with an outlet port parallel to the axis of the chamber, the heating means including conduits for circulating fluid through the hollow spaces of the chamber 'wall and the spreader.

4. A vaporizer comprising, a hollow walled chamber, gas inlet and outlet ports -iu the chamber, a hollow conical spreader within the chamber with its apex directed toward, and concentric with, the inlet, the chamber being formed to leave an annular space between its inner wall and the outer wall ot' the spreader and means for. heating the inner wall of the chamber and the outer wall of the spreader, partitions dividing the annular space into a plurality l.of separate divergent channels, and means at the exit ends of the channel to impart a whirling motion to the material owing through the channels, a mixing space in the chamber beyond the spreader, an auxiliary air inlet in the mixing space with an outlet port parallel to the axis of the chamber, the heating means including conduits for circulating fluid through the hollow spaces of the chamber wall and the spreader.

5.- A vaporizer comprising, walled chamber, gas inlet and outlet ports in the chamber, a hollow conical spreader within the chamber with its apex directed toward, and concentric with, the inlet, the chamber being formed to leave an annular `space between its inner wall and the outer wall of the spreader and means forl heating the inner wall of the chamber and the outer wall of the spreader, the spreader being formed with walls of uniform thickness throughout except for its tip end which is of greater thickness, and an inner defiector to direct heating fluid against the thickened tip end to raise its temperature above that ot' the rest of the spreader.

6.y A vaporizer comprising, a hollow walled chamber, gas inlet and outlet ports a hollow in the chamber, a hollow conical spreader within the chamberwith itsapex directed toward, and concentric with, the inlet, the chamber being formed to leave an annular space between the inner wall .and the outer 'wall of the spreader and means for heating the inner wall of the chamber and the outer wall of the spreader, partitions dividing the annular space into a plurality of separate divergent channels, and means at the exit ends of the channel to impart a whirling motionto the materialflowing through the channels, the spreader being formed with walls of uniform thickness throughout ex# cept for its tip endwhich is of greater thickness, and an inner deflector to direct heating'fluid against the thickened tip end to raise its temperature above that of the rest of the spreader.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication.`

ALEXANDER IVANOVITCH KOUSNETZOFF. 

